Pop-up drain assembly

ABSTRACT

A pop-up drain assembly that opens and closes via a spring-biased mechanism. To close the drain, the user presses down on the stopper, forcing teeth on an actuator to engage with teeth inside a pop-up body to hold the actuator in a lowered position. Pressing the stopper down again causes the actuator to rotate until the actuator teeth are aligned with spaces between the pop-up body teeth, allowing the actuator to be pushed upward by the spring-biasing force. The upward movement of the actuator pushes the stem and stopper upward to open the drain.

TECHNICAL FIELD

[0001] The present invention relates to drain assemblies, and moreparticularly to a structure for opening and closing a drain.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

[0002] Pop-up drain assemblies are commonly used in most drainapplications. Standard pop-up drain assemblies use a pivot rod, strapand lift rod that cooperate to move a stopper up and down. The stopperand the lift rod are attached to opposite ends of the pivot rod. Thelift rod acts as a user-actuatable lever; when a user pushes the top ofthe lift rod down, the downward movement of the lift rod pushes down onone end of the pivot rod, causing the other end of the pivot rod to moveupward, thereby pushing the stopper upward and opening the drain.Conversely, when the lift rod is pulled upward, the pivot rod pivots,pulling the stopper downward to close the drain.

[0003] Standard pop-up drain assemblies, however, are difficult toinstall correctly due to the large number of components that mustcooperate to open and close the drain. As a result, installing a pop-updrain is a labor-intensive process. Further, the lift rod and pivot rodare relatively large, adding packing, storage and shipping costs totheir considerable manufacturing costs.

[0004] There is a desire for a pop-up drain assembly having a simplerdesign to minimize the labor required for installation. There is also adesire for a pop-up drain assembly that has few components to reducemanufacturing, packing, storage and shipping costs.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

[0005] The present invention is directed to a pop-up drain assembly thatopens and closes via a spring-biased mechanism. In one embodiment, thedrain assembly includes a spring-biased actuator and a stem that movetogether inside a pop-up body. The pop-up body has interior pop-up bodyteeth that are shaped to cooperate with teeth on the actuator. A stopperis attached to the stem so that the stopper and the stem move as oneunit. The assembly both opens and closes a drain by applying downwardpressure on the stopper.

[0006] In one embodiment, the stopper is biased in the open (up)position. To close the drain, the user presses down on the stopper,forcing the stem to push down on an actuator having actuator teeth. Theactuator teeth engage with the pop-up body teeth, which guide and holdthe actuator in a lowered position. The actuator compresses the springand is held in place by the pop-up body teeth, preventing the biasingforce of the spring from pushing the stopper back upward. Pressing thestopper down again causes the actuator to rotate until the actuatorteeth are aligned with spaces between the pop-up body teeth, allowingthe actuator to be pushed upward by the spring-biasing force. The upwardmovement of the actuator pushes the stem and stopper upward to open thedrain.

[0007] By integrating the entire stopper actuation mechanism in a singledrain assembly rather than using levers and rods, the inventionsimplifies installation of the drain assembly and also eliminates thelarge parts that are common in conventional assemblies.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0008]FIG. 1 is a sectional view of one embodiment of an inventive drainassembly in a closed position;

[0009]FIG. 2 is a sectional view of the drain assembly of FIG. 1 in anopen position;

[0010]FIG. 3 is an exploded view of an actuation portion of the drainassembly of FIG. 1;

[0011]FIGS. 4A, 4B, 4C, and 4D are top, side, top section and sidesection views of a one embodiment of a pop-up body of the actuationportion of FIG. 3;

[0012]FIGS. 5A and 5B are side and bottom views, respectively, of a stemin the actuation portion of FIG. 3;

[0013]FIGS. 6A and 6B are side and top views, respectively, of anactuator in the actuation portion of FIG. 3.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE EMBODIMENTS

[0014] Referring to FIGS. 1 through 3, a drain assembly 100 according toone embodiment of the invention includes a stopper assembly 102 formedto engage against a drain flange 104 when the stopper assembly 102 is ina closed position to prevent fluid flow down the drain assembly 100. Inthe illustrated embodiment, the stopper assembly 102 includes a stoppercap 106 that is crimped onto a stopper body 110 and a stopper gasket 112that seals the stopper assembly 102 against the drain flange 104. Thestopper assembly 102 may have any other know structure without departingfrom the scope of the invention. A sleeve adapter 114 may be used toconnect the drain flange 104 to a tail piece 116. A gasket 118, washer120, and nut 122 may also be included in the same manner as conventionaldrain assemblies.

[0015] The stopper assembly 102 is raised and lowered by an actuationportion 130 that operates inside the tube formed by the drain flange104, sleeve adapter 114 and tail piece 116. Referring to FIG. 3, theactuation portion 130 includes a pop-up body 132, a stem seal 134 (e.g.,an O-ring), a stem 136, an actuator 138, a spring 140 positioned insidethe pop-up body 132 and that applies spring force against the actuator138, and a retaining device 142, such as a set screw, positioned insidethe pop-up body 132 in a fixed position. The pop-up body 132 alsoremains fixed during drain assembly operation. A retainer, such as ascrew 108, attaches the stopper assembly 102 to the stem 136.

[0016]FIGS. 4A through 4D illustrate the pop-up body 132 according toone embodiment of the invention. FIG. 4C is a section view taken alongline C-C of FIG. 4B, and FIG. 4D is a section view taken along line D-Dof FIG. 4A. As shown in the Figures, the pop-up body 132 includesflanges 150 that extend from a center tube 152. In one embodiment, theflanges 150 disposed at the top of the tube 152 extend outwardly farenough to hold the pop-up body 132 securely within the drain flange 104.The flanges 150 at the bottom of the tube 152 may have a loose fitwithin the tail piece 116 to act as a locator. The spacing between theflanges 150 should be far enough to allow fluid to past the flanges 150easily without trapping debris.

[0017] As shown in FIGS. 4C and 4D, pop-up body teeth 154 extend insidethe tube 152 and are separated by spaces 156. Each tooth 154 has ajagged edge 158 that includes a low-tooth portion 160, which correspondsto a closed position of the stopper assembly 102, and a high-toothportion 162, which corresponds with a drain opening operation of thestopper assembly 102. The jagged edge 158 acts as a guide to rotate theactuator 138. Alternatively, the jagged edge 158 may be omitted,requiring a user to rotate the actuator 138 manually during operation.

[0018] Referring to FIGS. 5A, 5B, 6A, and 6B, the stem 136 has a stemopening 170 that holds the stopper retainer 108, attaching the stopperassembly 102 to the stem 136 so that they can move as a single unit. Thestem 136 also has stem teeth 172 that extend from a bottom portion ofthe stem 136. The actuator 138 has actuator teeth 174 disposed along itstop portion. The stem teeth 172 are preferably large enough and numerousenough so that the actuator teeth 174 can reliably contact the stemteeth 172 regardless of the vertical direction in which the stem 136 andactuator 138 are moving. Alternatively, the stem 136 may have adifferent stem engagement structure, such as a ledge, that allows theactuator 138 and stem 136 to press against each other during drainassembly operation.

[0019] The actuator 138 also has a spring opening 176 designed to fitover one end of the spring 140, allowing any biasing force applied bythe spring 140 to be transferred through the actuator 138 to any othercomponent contacting the actuator 138 (e.g., the stem 136). As shown inFIG. 2, the spring 140 biases the stopper assembly 102 in an openposition.

[0020] To close the drain, a user pushes the stopper cap 106 down,thereby pushing the stopper assembly 102 and the stem 136 downward aswell. When the stem 136 is pushed downward, the stem teeth 172 pressdownward against the actuator teeth 174, forcing the actuator 138downward inside the pop-up body 132. Note that at this point, theactuator teeth 174 are aligned with the spaces 156 between the pop-upbody teeth 154, allowing the actuator 138 to move without interruptionpast the pop-up body teeth 154.

[0021] As the actuator 138 continues to move downward, the actuatorteeth 174 eventually fall below the pop-up body teeth 154. Because thepop-up body teeth 154 have angled jagged edges 158, the actuator teeth174 will ride along the pop-up body teeth 154, rotating the actuator 138until the actuator teeth 174 rest against the low-tooth portions 160 ofthe pop-up body teeth 154. The actuator 138 is therefore held in placein its lowered position by the low-tooth portions 160, holding thestopper assembly 102 in a lowered position such that the stopper gasket112 seals against the drain flange 104. At this point, the spring 140 iscompressed between the actuator 138 and the retainer 142. Because theactuator 138 is held in a lowered position by the low-tooth portions160, the spring 140 is prevented from expanding to push the actuator,and therefore the stopper assembly 102, back to the open position atthis point.

[0022] To open the drain, the user presses downward on the stopperassembly 102 again. Because the stopper gasket 112 is preferably made ofa resilient material, it will allow the assembly 102 to move downwardslightly even though the assembly 102 is already in a lowered position.The downward movement forces the actuator teeth 174 to ride along thehigh-tooth portion 162 of the pop-up body teeth 154, forcing theactuator 138 to rotate until the actuator teeth 174 align with thespaces 156 between the pop-up body teeth 154. Once the actuator teeth174 align with the spaces 156, the biasing force from the spring 140pushes the actuator 138 upward, pressing the actuator teeth 174 againstthe stem teeth 172 to force the stem 136 upward as well. The upwardmovement of the stem 136 carries the stopper assembly 102 upward,disengaging the stopper gasket 112 from the drain flange 104 and openingthe drain.

[0023] As a result, the inventive drain assembly structure integratesthe entire raising and lowering structure for the stopper in one compactassembly, without requiring additional levers and rods to be routed andadjusted. By keeping the pop-up actuation structure within a singleassembly that can be virtually dropped into a drain pipe, the inventionreduces labor costs without sacrificing reliable stopper operation. Aside benefit of the inventive structure is that the stopper remainscentered with respect to the drain flange in both the open and closedpositions, unlike many conventional drain assemblies, enhancing theappearance of the inventive drain assembly.

[0024] It should be understood that various alternatives to theembodiments of the invention described herein may be employed inpracticing the invention. It is intended that the following claimsdefine the scope of the invention and that the method and apparatuswithin the scope of these claims and their equivalents be coveredthereby.

What is claimed is:
 1. A drain assembly, comprising: a stopper; anactuator operationally coupled to the stopper such that the actuator andthe stopper move together linearly between an open drain position and aclosed drain position, the actuator comprising at least one actuatortooth; a resilient member that biases the actuator and the stopper in anopen drain position; and a body portion comprising at least one bodytooth having an edge, wherein said at least one actuator tooth and saidat least one body tooth are engaged in the closed drain position and aredisengaged in the open drain position and wherein the edge urges theactuator in a rotational direction when the actuator is moved in thelinear direction.
 2. The drain assembly of claim 1, wherein the edge onsaid at least one body tooth comprises a jagged edge.
 3. The drainassembly of claim 2, where said jagged edge comprises a low-toothportion that engages with the actuator in the closed drain position anda high-tooth portion that guides the actuator toward the open drainposition.
 4. The drain assembly of claim 1, wherein said actuatorcomprises a plurality of actuator teeth and said body portion comprisesa plurality of body teeth, wherein said plurality of body teeth arearranged in a spaced relationship to form spaces between said bodyteeth, and wherein said actuator teeth travel in the spaces when movingbetween the open drain and closed drain positions.
 5. The drain assemblyof claim 1, further comprising a stem connected to the stopper, whereinthe stem contacts the actuator such that the stem presses downwardagainst the actuator when the stopper is moved to the closed drainposition and the actuator presses upward against the stem to move thestopper to the open drain position.
 6. A drain assembly, comprising: astopper; a stem connected to the stopper; an actuator that contacts thestem such that the stem presses in a first direction against theactuator when the stopper is moved to the closed drain position and theactuator presses in a second direction opposite the first directionagainst the stem to move the stopper to the open drain position, theactuator comprising a plurality of actuator teeth; a resilient memberthat biases the actuator and the stopper in the open drain position; anda tubular body portion that houses the actuator, stem and resilientmember, the body portion having a plurality of body teeth disposed in aspaced relationship inside the body portion, wherein each body toothhaving a jagged edge with a low-tooth portion and a high-tooth portion,wherein the low-tooth portion engages the actuator teeth when theactuator is in the closed drain position and wherein the high-portionguides the actuator teeth toward spaces between the body teeth when theactuator is moved toward the open drain position.
 7. The drain assemblyof claim 6, wherein said actuator teeth travel in the spaces when movingbetween the open drain and closed drain positions.
 8. The drain assemblyof claim 6, wherein the stem comprises a plurality of stem teeth thatcontact said plurality of actuator teeth when the actuator and stem movebetween the open drain and closed drain positions.
 9. A method ofmanufacturing a drain assembly, comprising: attaching a stopper to astem; inserting the stem, an actuator, and a resilient member inside atubular body; attaching a drain flange, sleeve adapter, and tail piecetogether to form a pipe; and inserting the tubular body holding thestem, the actuator, and the resilient member inside the pipe.